Agreeing & Disagreeing ESL Activities, Games & Worksheets

Understanding Agreeing and Disagreeing

When to Use Agreeing and Disagreeing

3-Step Framework for Teaching Agreeing and Disagreeing

1. Start with Form Accuracy: At the lowest level, students need to get the mechanics right before they can communicate freely. A controlled pair activity where students first underline the correct word or phrase in statements, then take turns reading their sentences aloud to a partner who agrees or disagrees using so, neither, or nor, builds the habit of matching the response form to the statement type before any pressure to be creative.

2. Raise the Stakes with Opinion Pressure: Once students have the forms, push them into messier, more spontaneous territory with a game format where the challenge is to complete a statement with true information that others would find difficult to agree with, like the example 'I want to live somewhere where it's cold and cloudy all year round. I can't stand sunny weather.' The goal of winning a card only if no one agrees forces students to think carefully about the opinion they express, not just the phrase they reach for.

3. Extend into Real-World Decision Making: At the highest level, students produce and defend their own ideas in a scenario where they pretend their school has been awarded $100,000 to spend on new facilities and equipment. Pairs build a case, present it to another pair, negotiate disagreements, and arrive at a shared position to put before the class. This moves agreeing and disagreeing from a phrase-matching exercise into the kind of purposeful discussion students will actually need outside the classroom.

Common Mistakes with Agreeing and Disagreeing

Common Questions About Teaching Agreeing and Disagreeing